Employee Engagement: Beneficial At Every Level of the Organization

Many companies are aware of the benefits of great employee engagement, even if only in theory. Employees who are fully engaged with their jobs are the single most valuable resource a company can possess: he or she is more likely to stay and keep valuable knowledge in the company, more likely to take initiative and act as a positive brand ambassador, and more likely to offer customers a better experience. Unfortunately, engaged employees are also rare in the U.S. workforce. Figures vary from study to study, but most reports put the figure at about one in four employees fully engaged with their work.

According to Calli Tapler of employment services provider TruYuu, writing for Business Insider, employee engagement is a critical driver of a company’s success and when engagement is high, talent, customer loyalty, and performance, follows. High levels of employee engagement are also contagious: some studies have found that employees are more likely to stay engaged if they work with other highly engaged employees.

According to Tapler, it’s the mark of a great organization to introduce programs and policies that will boost employee engagement. This, of course, requires understanding of what employees need to engage in the first place. It may not be additional training or deep insight into how an employee’s job performance affects company performance. It could be as simple as a program to show employees appreciation.

“I once worked with the most amazing administrative assistant,” wrote Tapler. “She was extremely efficient, great with details, and was often three steps ahead of her boss. Her skills were incredible. After working for months on a week-long employee celebration ensuring every detail was covered to perfection, her boss failed to thank her publicly (or privately) for her hard work and dedication. She felt undervalued, overworked, and underappreciated. Over the next several months, I watched her level of engagement drop as well as her performance.”

Another important point, writes Tapler, is to ensure that employees’ personal characteristics are well aligned with company goals and values. Each organization has its own values, traditions and cultures, and employees – even skilled and enthusiastic employees – who are not in alignment with these values likely won’t become fully engaged.

“Accountable, loyal, innovative, adaptable, positive attitude – the list of qualities any one employer values goes on and on,” writes Tapler. “Chances are the qualities have a high degree of similarity among organizations, but what give you the ‘It’ factor at one organization may vary at another.”

Finally, Tapler notes that it’s important to pay attention to engagement among employees at all levels of the organization. Many companies focus on only the top layer of management, without realizing that there is value in employee engagement at every level of the company. Turnover and disinterest costs a company money and goodwill no matter where it’s found: in the CEO’s office or in the mail room.